Tuesday, December 16, 2008

One of the things about the web is that it has a level of permanence. You put stuff out and you have to live with it.

Only a few hours ago – and preserved for posterity here the website of Bramdean Asset Management said this:

Robust and thorough due diligence is at the heart of our firm's investment process. Our detailed manager monitoring programme ensures that our clients' investments are subject to on-going and effective governance.

I pointed out the incongruity between this statement and losses in Bernie Madoff’s ponzi scheme only a few hours ago – and the offending paragraph has rapidly been removed from Nicola Horlick’s site.

Google however saves the day. Here is a picture of Google’s cache of the site. Note the offending paragraph.

And here is how the site as it currently appears with the paragraph removed.

So now Nicola we know your organisation was incompetent in its due diligence. This should be the death knell for a fund of funds business.

You are now proven to be deceitful hiding website content when it is inconvenient. Publicly exposed deceit should also be the death knell of any financial business.

And you are incompetent as you try to cover your tracks.

Lawyers note this. Any sensible jury would see this behaviour as an admission of guilt.

Nicola – you were never worth the trust people put in you. You have now proven it.

If your business is not dead before this deceit it most certainly is after.

Based on the current turn of events, many financial managers appear to be nothing more than highly paid toll takers. This assessment applies to all types of firms and managers within the industry, from blue chip organizations to "superstars" like Horlick. I would wager that within many of the firms burned by Madoff anyone who dared question Madoff's returns or strategy was fired, demoted, passed over, ridiculed, etc. Here's a link to a post on a financial forum in which a junior member questions Madoff's strategy: http://www.wilmott.com/messageview.cfm?catid=3&threadid=59747&forumid=1

This post is dated March 2008. If a supposedly relatively unsophisticated investor can doubt Madoff's strategy, what excuse do the professionals have for not spotting the fraud? None.

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The content contained in this blog represents the opinions of Mr. Hempton. Mr. Hempton may hold either long or short positions in securities of various companies discussed in the blog based upon Mr. Hempton's recommendations. The commentary in this blog in no way constitutes a solicitation of business or investment advice. In fact, it should not be relied upon in making investment decisions, ever. It is intended solely for the entertainment of the reader, and the author. In particular this blog is not directed for investment purposes at US Persons.